WILSON HAS NO PROBLEM RETURNING TO SOUTH AFRICA

GLASGOW WARRIORS skipper Ryan Wilson insists they would have no qualms about returning to South Africa in the United Rugby Championship play-offs.

Glasgow’s place in the quarter-finals was secured yesterday by dint of Scarlets suffering defeat to the Ospreys.

It means the Warriors will now be guaranteed a place in the top eight come what may, with a final-day derby against Edinburgh to come in three weeks’ time. Wilson would no doubt have preferred them to secure their play-off spot under their own steam, rather than on the back of back-to-back defeats on their two-game mini tour of South Africa.

But the veteran back-rower insists they would be happy to return and face any of the Stormers, Sharks or the Bulls. Speaking after Friday night’s 29-17 loss to the Bulls in Pretoria, he said: ‘It is draining (touring South Africa). But you just have to find ways to deal with this.

‘The South African guys are having the same battles. I don’t think we can blame these last two weeks on the travel. We prepared really well for the games. If we have to return here for another game, we’ll prepare well for that too.

‘We compounded errors and compounded penalty on penalty against the Bulls. In terms of the physicality, we probably got bullied a bit.

‘Usually I’d back us to front up there, especially in attack. I wouldn’t expect us to get turned over so much. We couldn’t get much going. That was the crux of it.

‘It was definitely a classical display from a South African team. Scrum, line-out, maul. Scrum, line-out, maul. Big men just coming one after the other.

‘If you give away that many penalties and put yourself in that position, it’s only a matter of time before you concede metres.

‘There were moments in the scrum where we gave away penalties in their half which suddenly gave them a maul. Discipline killed us on that front.’

Glasgow suffered back-toback defeats against the Stormers and the Bulls in South Africa, which perhaps drains momentum ahead of next weekend’s Challenge

Cup quarter-final with Lyon. But Wilson insisted that they have still taken a lot from the experience: ‘I’ve said to the boys during the past few weeks that we’re a lot closer from being away together.

‘With all the Covid stuff over the last few years, being able to come away for two weeks as a group has been really special. We’re a lot tighter as a group.

‘It’s just a shame we came away from those two games with nothing.’